The Nationalist Party has presented a motion calling on parliament to set up a parliamentary committee for justice.

The committee would scrutinise developments in the field of justice, including issues related to constitutional law, rule of law, and human rights and liberties, amongst other things, according to PN spokesperson for justice Karol Aquilina.

In a news conference on Thursday, shortly after the motion was presented, Aquilina argued that Malta is one of the few European countries where such a committee does not yet exist.

It would have the power to discuss the impacts of decisions or recommendations on Malta's justice system and summon people working in the judicial system to appear in front of it.

However, Aquilina said, this would not apply to the chief justice, judges, magistrates or people chairing a board or tribunal, as the committee is not designed to discuss individual judgements or cases.

Pointing to a recent warning by the Association of the Maltese judiciary that Malta’s judicial system is “on the brink of collapse”, Aquilina said that a justice committee would strengthen the system by creating a dedicated forum.

PN’s motion says that the committee should function broadly along the same lines as the Public Accounts Committee, with seven members proportionally divided amongst government and opposition representatives.

PN is proposing that the chair of the committee would be nominated by the opposition.

Party whip Robert Cutajar, who also addressed the press conference, described the motion as a “sign of the opposition’s belief in strengthening parliament”.

He said that although PN had presented a series of proposals intended to strengthen the functioning of parliament last year, these have been ignored by the government.

These proposals include setting up Prime Minister’s questions, and other procedural measures that would ensure a fairer allocation of time and resources in parliament.